DigiLit Sunday: Graphic Intelligence

I don’t think Sunday morning is the time to launch into a research project, but when I typed “Graphic Intelligence” into the title line, I wondered, “Is this a real thing?” A quick search in Google turned up a book with the title, “Graphic Intelligence: Possibilities for Assessment and Instruction” by Barrie Bennett. Looks like this is a book all about graphic organizers from the least complex to the most.

My use of the term is not related to graphic organizers. What I am questioning early this morning is the presence of an intelligence for graphics. Not the use of a graphic organizer. In my field of gifted education, I am always trying to think outside the box, away from constraints like graphic organizers and more toward creativity. Creative problem solving leads students to deeper thinking at a higher intelligence level. The revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy puts Creativity on the top rung. Create means to put elements together to form a coherent whole; reorganize into a new pattern or structure.

As I continue to explore writing about reading with an online group of teachers, I decided to try out using Canva to express my thoughts. Canva is a poster-making app. The site provides numurous images (many of which cost $1 to use). You can also upload your own image. I decided to use simple images and arrows. I don’t think my canva is a particulary brilliant construction, but I noted during the process that I had to synthesize my thoughts about the characters.

I could have used the well-used and time-tested Venn Diagram to compare the female characters. But if I give my students this tool, they don’t have to think beyond the comparison aspects. If I ask them to define characters in a new way using a graphic of their own making, I have now added the element of creativity to the assignment.

When I start working with my students in the next few weeks, I will show them the graphics I have made for response to reading. I hope to encourage and motivate them to try creative graphics to represent their thoughts about reading.

6 Responses

Margaret, I find your exploration of graphic intelligence today fascinating. Leading your students to creatively present their thoughts about characters is an approach worth exploring for all students. I would like to share your work with other teachers this year.

Thank you for sharing your thinking behind the creation of and the reason for using the Canva tool. You’re right that creating this kind of graphic requires the reader to synthesize his thinking, which is difficult for many of my students. I think adding this element of creativity may motivate them to dig deeper when responding to their reading.

I love the perspective you took by looking at the female characters and how they relate to Trent. That in an of itself is an ah ha for me. Clearly there is great thinking going on with the creation of the canva. My question is, did the process of creating this work bring up even more thinking about the characters/book? My guess is yes, which is the wonderful point of this work. I can also imagine your voice next to this graphic explaining your thinking and growing your thinking in that interaction.

In my process, I decided I wanted to write about the female characters before I started. What may have come up during the process was a kind of parallel in the way I wrote about them, such as wanting to find a quote for each one. My plan is to offer this as a model for one way to response to reading. I want to see if my students will choose to use technology over writing in their journals.

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I live on the Bayou Teche in New Iberia, Louisiana. I love teaching, poetry, my dog Charlie, my three daughters, and dancing with my husband. This space is where I capture my thoughts, share my insights, and make connections with the world. Welcome! Walk in kindness.

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